Standardized intermittent shoreline boat electrofishing for slow-flowing rivers in Sweden

Abstract

Electrofishing is a common method for sampling fish in rivers. In Sweden, electrofishing has a long history, dating back to the 1950s, but the vast majority of surveys have been conducted by wading in shallow river stretches, leaving a data gap for non-wadable rivers. Boat electrofishing allows for surveys in deeper river sections, but limited numbers of operational electrofishing boats have led to standardisation of methods not being prioritized within Swedish water management. This method protocol describes the first Swedish standardised method for boat electrofishing, based on intermittent shoreline sampling in larger slow-flowing rivers. The paper describes: center dot General methodology for boat electrofishing operation center dot Data collection protocols center dot Discussion of current caveats for the method In the future, the methodology will be amended to cover a wider array of river types (e.g. faster flowing river sections). Hence, readers are advised to look for updates to the protocol.

Keywords

Electric fishing; Fish surveys; Electrofishing boat; Environmental monitoring; Protocol

Published in

MethodsX
2024, Volume: 13, article number: 102907Publisher: ELSEVIER

SLU Authors

• Näslund, Joacim

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Staveley, Thomas

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Petersson, Erik

  • Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Fish and Aquacultural Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mex.2024.102907

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/132410